This is one of the many personal gardens that the Vietnamese tend at their homes. Instead of laws the yards are gardens for food. This one is particularly beautiful as it is next to rice fields. I love to see this kind of thing. This is near Hoi An.

Here is Rita on the street in Hoi An . She just happens to be wearing a shirt that matches the bougainvillea. These plants are common in the tropical areas of the world and particularly beautiful in Vietnam and one of my favorites on earth.

As a major tourist town there are just a few things to do. Sight see as the whole city is a UN Heritage site so that the whole of the old town is drop dead beautiful . They even have the old town painted in old fashioned paint so the walls all have a special textural color quality on the stucco. You can have custom tailored clothes made as there are scores of tailors that will make any item of clothing you can think of . Each shop has fashion mags and books showing the stryles of each kind of clothing you would want. Of course Rita has had a few things made for herself. And then there is eating as all of these tourists have to eat and drink and we are no exception.One spot we like is the Cafe 96. That is actually the addresss as many businesses go by their address instead of a formal name. The 96 is right on the river so the view is great and we have managed to get a doorway (no windows just an open front) table where we enjoyed a nice lunch. I had a sandwich on a baguette, Rita had a avocado and shrimp salad, and an order of fresh spring rolls and we were set. Lets not forget the drinks . A glass of wine and a beer rounded out the bill of fare for lunch.

Lunch at Cafe 96

Rita with a Margarita

Inside Cafe 96

There are many boats that are actually woven bamboo baskets that are waterproofed using pine pitch. These are neat kinds of boats and this is a video of the smallest used and they are used in the ocean. Fascinating. Here is a video of two of these baskets being launched.

Well we arrived in Hoi An via sleeping bus. The experience was ok but the bathroom was out of order so that put a damper on the trip but we made it in good shape. Hoi An is a UN Heritage City and has a wonderful feel about it. Here are some pictures of Hoi An people and architecture.

Continential Breakfast at the Cargo Club

In case her face does not give it all away Rita is a happy camper, so to speak, at this point. Me too. Pastry- Breakfast of Champions, Slackers too.

We have the transportation situation fairly well in hand. We hoof it a bit , especially for breakfast at the Cargo Club for pastries. I rented a bicycle for exercise and exploring and we have a motorcycle for zipping around to the beach and such. China beach is just a short drive and we have been a few times already but the wind has a considerable bite though nothing that Minnesotans would recognize as cold,but it is to us.

There are several things that I admire about the Vietnamese since we have begun our visits. They are an industrious people and I like to think we in the US are as well but here they must make everything count. To that end they build special large baskets and cover the outside with pine pitch and then call them boats. These boats range from rounds about 8 ft across that are propelled with a paddle and believe it or not they take them out in the ocean fishing. The biggest we have seen are in the 20 ft plus size and have small diesel engines and of course are also taken into the ocean

Well we have spent a few days in Na Trang , Vietnam. A seaside city of 300 K or so. After the French, Russians and Italians leave that should drop 100k or so. European visitors are the norm here. We have not run into many US tourists in Cambodia or Vietnam.

Beach Cabanas at night

This is a picture we took from the balcony of our room of the cabanas that are lit at night. The city has done a great job on their waterfront. Paved walkways and large park areas with sculptures and topiary. This was a great visit.

Neon Banner Over Beach Road

We have a room overlooking the beach however there is main road between us and the beach. This is ok as we get to see all the scooters in Vietnam go by. Crossing the road is relatively simple. Just start walking and they don’t hit you, just don’t think that the buses will do the same. Part of the adventure of travel.